Mt. Airy, NC - Girls' Weekend 2024

The Harris Sisters have wrapped up another Girls' Weekend! Each year, we Harris Sisters spend a long weekend on a new location and spend lots of quality girl time together. We try to pick somewhere that we've never visited with each other before and then we always post a full write up with photos on the blog so that you guys can see if you'd like to visit there too. This year we set our sights on Mt. Airy, North Carolina and surrounding small towns in Virginia.  

While we were born and raised in North Carolina, none of us had ever visited Mount Airy before, and this trip presented the perfect opportunity! We've visited plenty of other locations in North Carolina for Girls' Weekend before (Asheville, Beaufort, Bryson City, and Boone), but we've never visited Virginia for a girls weekend getaway until this trip.

DAY 1 - Touring Mayberry R.F.D.

Day one of our itinerary was a tour of Mount Airy, NC, otherwise known as Mayberry to fans of the 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show.

We started the day with a squad car tour in an early 1960's model Ford Galaxie squad car. We met our tour driver Mark wearing his blue service station shirt and his Buc-ee's cap, and we could tell from the start that we had gotten one of the best. 

While driving us around to all of the sites in the town, he told us the most fascinating details about how the town of Mount Airy was often mentioned in The Andy Griffith Show. He even ran the siren several times, did impersonations of some of the characters, and shared Andy Griffith's creative direction of the show.

It was a blast and we highly recommend this tour if you're in the area. The tour lasts about 30 minutes and ends with your tour guide taking photos of you in front of the squad car parked in front of Wally's Service Station.

After our squad car tour, we set off on foot to explore some of the highlights of Mt. Airy our tour guide had mentioned. 

First up is Wally's Service Station itself (where your tour starts and ends). This service station inspired Wally's Filling station, the only gas and automotive station in the fictional town of Mayberry.

The Darlins truck is parked right next door to Wally's Service Station. This is a photo op not to be missed!

Next door are the Courthouse and the Jail. These are buildings built to look like the sets of the show. The actual sets were in California and burned down in a wildfire.

Fun fact: the clipboard on the desk is actually where you can sign in to say that you've visited, so make sure to leave your signature and date you visited. But bring your own pen or pencil with you because the pencils in the mug on the desk are unsharpened and for a photo-op only.

The keys to the jail cell are right on the wall and the cells are not locked, so you can let yourself into the jail cell for a photo (just like Otis)!

"I'm the sheriff around these here parts."

"Sarah, would you get me Aunt Bee?"

"I’m not as think as you drunk I am.”

Murals in Mayberry

There are lots of fun murals in Mount Airy. These first three colorful murals are located just outside of the Andy Griffith museum.

Hey from Mayberry Mural

218 Rockford Street

Artist: Madeline Matanick Art

Forever Mayberry Mural

218 Rockford Street

Artist: Madeline Matanick Art

Memories Made in Mayberry Mural

218 Rockford Street

Artist: Madeline Matanick Art

Five Faces of Andy Mural
212 Moore Avenue
Artist: Jeks

Coca-Cola Ghost Sign

Main Street

Andy Griffith Museum

Not to be missed while visiting Mount Airy is the Andy Griffith Museum. This houses the remaining set props, scripts, and costumes from the show. Our tour driver explained that in the 1960s, these items were routinely destroyed because people didn't realize how shows would gain popularity and how these types of items would eventually become collectibles.

Nowadays, props, costumes, and set pieces are saved for this reason for all shows (even those that never even become popular) "just in case."

The Andy Griffith Museum is world’s largest collection of Andy Griffith memorabilia and houses items collected by his childhood friend, Emmett Forrest.

Outside of the museum stands a bronze TV Land statue called Goin' Fishin' of Andy and Opie in their famous opening credits pose. A second one of this same statue appears in the capital city of Raleigh, NC. The Harris Sisters visited another TV Land statue (Samantha from Bewitched) at our Girls' Weekend Trip to Salem, MA last year.

The artist really captured Andy Griffith's and a young Ron Howard's likenesses in this statue.

On to the artifacts in the museum! First up is Sheriff Andy Taylor's uniform and badge, donated to the museum by Andy Griffith himself.

The original Sheriff and Justice of the Peace door signs used on the exterior of the Mayberry Courthouse, also donated to the museum by Andy Griffith.

One of Don Knotts' signature suits.

The original chair, gavel, eagle, and telephone from the interior of the Mayberry Courthouse. The gavel block has been autographed by Andy Griffith.

Costumes from Goober, Otis, and Earnest T. Bass.

Keys to the Mayberry Jail.

Lots of memorabilia from other parts of Andy Griffith's life are also included in the museum. 

His many albums

We found this one particularly fascinating:

And of course, the museum ends with his Matlock days.

This is just a small sampling of everything the museum houses. While it is a small museum, it is a large collection of memorabilia for one person's career. And you get a free Mayberry Sheriff's badge sticker to wear while you're touring the museum, which makes a fun souvenir of your time in Mt. Airy. So if you're an Andy Griffith fan or a fan of The Andy Griffith Show, this museum a must-see.

Andy Griffith's Homeplace

After the museum, we drove over to Andy Griffith's Homeplace located at 711 E Haymore Street in Mt Airy. It is now operated as a bed and breakfast by Hampton Inn, if you would like to book a stay while you're in the area, but our tour guide warned us that you'd need to keep the blinds closed because it's such a popular tourist attraction that folks stop all hours of the day and night for a photo.

Shops in Downtown Mt. Airy

Before you wrap up your trip to Mt. Airy, make sure you visit some of the wonderful shops along Main Street. Plenty of places to grab a Mayberry souvenir if you're looking to take one home. One that caught our eye in particular was Opie's Candy Store, where you could buy old-fashioned candy by the pound.

DAY 2 - Shopping in Meadows of Dan, VA and Chateau Morrisette

For day two of our itinerary, we headed out to a small town called Meadows of Dan in Virginia. We visited quite a few of the shops there in the morning before heading over to Chateau Morrisette in Floyd, VA.

• Concord Corner Store (lots of handcrafted items in a big store with a wrap-around porch)
• Poppy’s (lots of yarn, knitted items, handmade jewelry, old books, and a shop cat!)
• Poor Farmer’s Market (fresh produce, mums, handmade jams and jellies, and a Medicine Man fortune-teller machine like Zoltar)
• Nancy’s Candy Company (fudge and old-fashioned candy)

Chateau Morrisette Winery

After the morning of exploring the shops in Meadows of Dan, we headed to Chateau Morrisette for lunch and a wine tasting. Chateau Morrisette is a pet-friendly winery, so that means that the owners' doggos can be found wandering the property and you can bring your dogs to visit too!

We had a wine tasting with Mr. Ray, who told us his birthday was the following Saturday, so he'll be 85 years young by this posting. He was a hoot! During our time with him, he regaled us with stories about his life, all the different jobs he's held at Chateau Morrisette (hint: every one except chef), his experiences ballroom dancing, how to keep cut flowers alive longer, and his recipes that he uses the wine with (hint: he uses the The Black Dog to make his spaghetti sauce and The Vidal Blanc to make his chicken and white bean chili). If you visit Chateau Morrisette Winery and do a tasting, make sure to look for Mr. Ray!

This is me petting up good boy Noble. He is one of the owners black labs and was just a sweetie!

DAY 3 - Visiting a Pumpkin Patch

For our last day, we planned to visit a pumpkin patch, and boy did we pick a good one. The one we visited is called The Farm in Dobson, NC. In addition to a full you-pick pumpkin patch, they also had a sunflower field, an apple orchard, a petting zoo, and lots of activities for kiddos if you decide to bring them along with you.

We found a pumpkin! What became of this pumpkin? See our cool pumpkin photos here!

And that's a wrap on our Girls' Weekend this year!

We spent the rest of our time this Girls' Weekend hanging out, relaxing, and planning exciting things for the blog. So stay tuned!

And if you have a chance to visit Mt. Airy, NC and the surrounding small towns, there are lots of things to do in the area for a fun weekend! And if you can only get away for one day, then you can easily condense this trip for just a day trip to Mt. Airy!

Make sure to check out our other Girls' Weekend posts for our photos, recommendations, and reviews on the other places we've visited in previous years.